250 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
knees and she prayed to God, good and loud so the
would hear." ," '.
My father started to say something more , But instead he
shook his head, Maybe he wanted me to say something. rf~
But then he said, "No, you got to catch a plane," ft:,
I helped him into his coat and we started out, my hand
guiding him by the elbow,
"I'll put you in a cab," I said.
He said, " I'll see you off."
"That's all right," I said. "Next time maybe."
We shook hands , That was the last I've seen of him. Ou,the
way to Chicago, I remembered how I'd left his sack of giftsQrl
the bar. Just as well: Mary didn't need candy, Almond Roca .oF
anything else.
That was last year. She needs it now even less.
~b'lW;' The Bath
'i
',:510
'()!ATURDAY afternoon the mother drove to the bakery in the
@.;shopping center. After looking through a loose-leaf binder
. ;With photographs of cakes taped onto the pages, she ordered
'Chocolate, the child's favorite . The cake she chose was deco
r?:ted'witha spaceship and a launching pad under a sprinkling
, df:whitestars. The name SCOTTY would be iced on in green as
iSit>-.were'-the name of the spaceship.
o1ihe ' baker listened thoughtfully when the mother told him
StarrY would be eight years old. He was an older man, this
oaker;and he wore a curious apron, a heavy thing with loops
;tIfatwent.under his arms and around his back and then crossed
,inl':ftoht again where they were tied in a very thick knot. He
];eptl.wiping his hands on the front of the apron as he listened
itol.the woman, his wet eyes examining her lips as she studied
the~ainples and talked.
',;~Hdether take her time. He was in no hurry.
~n,':f,he'~mother decided on the spaceship cake, and then she
;gavt-thebaker her name and her telephone number. The cake
w6uld,be ready Monday morning, in plenty of time for the
PihY Monday afternoon. This was all the baker was willing to
!ayr N'opleasantries, just this small exchange, the barest infor
i'!J.~t10Ii, nothing that was not necessary.
:Mohday morning, the boy was walking to school. He was in
tftGcompany of another boy, the two boys passing a bag of
P0t"ltbchips back and forth between them. The birthday boy
was'trymg to trick the other boy into telling what he was
gging to give in the way of a present.
tA~>an intersection, without looking, the birthday boy
'}rfPl?~dbff the curb, and was promptly knocked down by a
t}t~lIe fell on his side, his head in tlle gutter, his legs in the
r&Jg!moving as if he were cIin1bing a wall.,
l'-lii'he(other boy stood holding the potato chips. He was won
deWig~ifhe should finish the rest or continue on to school.
llhe\birthdayboy did not cry. But neither did he wish to talle
anYg1bre; ;He would not answer when the other boy asked
251
254 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
"Ann," the doctor said and nodded. The doctor said, "Let's
just see how he's doing." He moved to the bed and touched
the boy's wrist. He peeled back an eyelid and then the other.
He turned back the covers and listened to the heart. He
pressed his fingers here and there on the body. He went to the
end of the bed and studied the chart. He noted the time, scrib
bled on the chart, and then he considered the mother and the
father.
This doctor was a handsome man. His skin was moist and
tan. He wore a three-piece suit, a vivid tie, and on his shirt
were cufflinks.
The mother was talking to herself like this. He has just come.
from somewhere with an audience. They gave him a special
medaL
The doctor said, "Nothing to shout about, but nothing to
worry about. He should wake up pretty soon." The doctor
looked at the boy again. "We'll know more after the tests are in."
"Oh, no," the mother said. . , 0(
The doctor said, "Sometimes you see this."
The father said, "You wouldn't call this a coma, then?"
The father waited and looked at the doctor.
"No, I don't want to call it that," the doctor said. "He.'s
sleeping. It's restorative. The body is doing what it has to d6. ~'
"It's a coma," the mother said. "A kind of coma."
The doctor said, "I wouldn't call it that." :f;
He took the woman's hands and patted them. He shook
hands with the husband. 'l.
The woman put her fingers on the child's forehead and kept
them there for a while. "At least he doesn't have a fever," shec
said. Then she said, "I don't know. Feel his head."
The man put his fingers on the boy's forehead. The man .
said, "L think he's supposed to feel this way. " rt'l
The woman stood there awhile longer, working her lip witH
her teeth. Then she moved to her chair and sat down. .AJ:~
The husband sat in the chair beside her. He wanted to say
something else. But there was no saying what it should be. He
took her hand and put it in his lap. This made him feel better.
It made him feel he was saying something. They sat like thal
.~ .i
THE BATH 255
[on a while, watching the boy, not talking. From time to time
he squeezed her hand until she took it away.
"I've been praying," she said.
"Me too," the father said. "I've been praying too ."
A nurse came back in and checked the flow from the bottle.
. 'I: A doctor came in and said what his name was. This doctor
was wearing loafers.
"We're going to take him downstairs for more pictures," he
said.: "And we want to do a scan."
"A scan?" the mother said. She stood between this new doc
tor and the bed.
\~I {les nothing," he said.
"My God," she said.
.fflTwo orderlies came in. They wheeled a thing like a bed.
.They unhooked the boy from the tube and slid him over onto
the thing with wheels .
~1}! .
Ihvas after sunup when they brought the birthday boy back
out. The mother and father followed the orderlies into the el
evator and up to the room. Once more the parents toole up
iheir;places next to the bed.
They waited all day. The boy did not wake up. The doctor
came again and examined the boy again and left after saying
the same things again. Nurses came in. Doctors came in. A
technician came in and took blood.
bd~1 don't understand this," the mother said to the technician.
"I'Doctor's orders," the technician said.
The mother went to the window and looked out at the
pax:king lot. Cars with their lights on were driving in and out.
Sherstood at the window with her hands on the sill. She was
. ~:illting to herself like this . We're into something now, some
thing hard.
loShewas afraid.
(>StIe saw a car stop and a woman in a long coat get into it.
\She made believe she was that woman. She made believe she
~ driving away from here to someplace eise.
K~no(.
25 2 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
what it felt like to be hit by a car. The birthday boy got up and
turned back for home, at which time the other boy waved
good-bye and headed offfor school.
The birthday boy told his mother what had happened. They
sat together on the sofa. She held his hands in her lap. This is
what she was doing when the boy pulled his hands away arid
lay down on his back.
Of course, the birthday party never happened. The birthday.
boy was in the hospital instead. The mother sat by the bed.
She was waiting for the boy to wal(e up. The father hurried over
from his office. He sat next to the mother. So now the both of
them waited for the boy t6 wal<:e up. They waited for hours,
and then the father went home to take a bath.
The man drove home from the hospital. He drove the
streets faster than he should. It had been a good life till now:
There had been work, fatherhood, family. The man had beed
lucky and happy. But fear made him want a bath.
He pulled into the driveway. He sat in the car trying to
make his legs work. The child had been hit by a car and he was .
in the hospital, but he was going to be all right. The man got
out of the car and went up to the door. The dog was barking
and the telephone was ringing. It kept ringing while the man
unlocked the door and felt the wall for the light switch. . 'j
He picked up the receiver. He said, "I just got in the door! '}
"There's a cake that wasn't picked up."
This is what the voice on the other end said.
"What are you saying?" the father said. j.~
"The cake," the voice said. "Sixteen dollars." . . 11
The husband held the receiver against his ear, trying to
understand. He said, "I don't know anything about it." . .f(
"Don't hand me that," the voice said. n"
The husband hung up the telephone. He went into th~
kitchen and poured himself some whiskey. He called thfl
hospital. ';~1 .
The child's condition remained the same. '3.""
While the water ran into the . tub, the man lathered his face
and shaved. He was in the tub when he heard the telephon~
again. He got himself out and hurried through the house,
saying, "Stupid, stupid," because he wouldn't be doing thistif
THE BATH 253
he'd stayed where he was in the hosp~tal. He picked up the re
ceiver and shouted, "Hello!"
-The voice said, "It's ready."
The father got back to the hospital after midnight. The wife
was sitting in the chair by the bed. She looked up at the hus
.band and then she looked back at the child. From an apparatus
over the bed hung a bottle with a tube running from the bottle
to the child.
''What's this?" the father said.
"Glucose," the mother said.
The husband put his hand to the back of the woman's head.
"He's going to wake up," the man said.
"I know," the woman said.
'1n a little while the man said, "Go home and let me take over."
,_She shook her head. "No," she said.
' / 'Really," he said. "Go home for a while. You don't have to
worry. He's sleeping, is all."
A nurse pushed open the door. She nodded to them as she
went to the bed. She took the left arm out from under the
covers and put her fingers on the wrist. She put the arm back
under the covers and wrote on the clipboard attached to the bed.
,. ~How is he?" the mother said.
., "Stable," the nurse said. Then she said, "Doctor will be in
~gain shortly."
',,'.'Iwas saying maybe she'd want to go home and get a little
r:est," the man said. "After the doctor comes."
"She could do that," the nurse said.
_The -woman said, "We'll see what the doctor says." She
prOlight her hand up to her eyes and leaned her head forward .
The nurse said, "Of course."
",,:t,'
~lle father gazed at his son, the small chest inflating and de
ft~tingunder the covers. He felt more fear now. He began
sh;iking his head. He talked to himself like this. The child is
@~~Jnstead ofsleeping at home, he's doing it here. Sleep is the
s@le',wherever you do it. .
..."""i-t
True doctor came in. He shook hands with the man. The
.lYgman got up from the chair.
256 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
The doctor came in. He looked tanned and healthier than
ever. He went to the bed and examined the boy. He said, "His
signs are fine. Everything's good."
The mother said, "But he's sleeping."
"Yes," the doctor said.
The husband said, "She's tired. She's starved."
The doctor said, "She should rest. She should eat. Ann;'
the doctor said.
"Thank you," the husband said.
He shook hands with the doctor and the doctor patted their
shoulders and left.
"I suppose one of us should go home and check on things,?'
the man said. "The dog needs to be fed."
"Call the neighbors," the wife said. "Someone will feed'hiril
if you ask them to."
THE BATH 257
The woman was trying to get up from her chair. But the
man had his hand closed over her arm.
"Here, here," the man said.
,~'I'm sorry," the mother said. "I'm looking for the elevator.
My-son is in the hospital. I can't find the elevator."
:lklElevator is down that way," the man said, and he aimed a
fing~i:in the right direction.
"'~ ~Myson was hit by a car," the mother said. "But he's going
to'be:allrnght. He's in shock now, but it might be some kind of
cOw:r;too. That's what worries us, the coma part. I'm going
Q1jt.:for a little while. Maybe I'll take a bath. But my husband is
with>him. He's watching. There's a chance everything will
"hwg)when I'm gone. My name is Ann Weiss."
. "~e 'man shifted in his chair. He shook his head.
"~H<;':said~ "Our Nelson."
-"}. :11 !.

She tried to think who. She closed her eyes and tried1!" t6
think anything at all. After a time she said, "Maybe I'll doit~
Maybe if I'm not here watching, he'll wake up. Maybe .it!s
because I'm watching that he won't." ,j;
"That could be it," the husband said. ;1
"I'll go home and take a bath and put on something clean;"
the woman said.
"I think you should do that," the man said.
She picked up her purse. He helped her into her coar,-She
moved to the door, and looked back. She looked at the child,
and then she looked at the father. The husband nodded and
smiled. .f'
f ~cotty;" the voice said. "It is about Scotty," the voice said .
She went past the nurses' station and down to the endo;clie.
corridor, where she turned and saw a little waiting roomy ~
S1:u:.pulled into the driveway. The dog ran out from behind the
hQuse, He ran in circles on the grass. She closed her eyes and
l~_etr:herhead against the wheel. She listened to the ticking
Mllhe engine.
She"gor out of the car and went to the door. She turned on
ligh~\ 411d :put on water for tea, She opened a can and fed the
dog?;Shesat down on the sofa with her tea.
Thettelephone rang.
:~~!" she said. "Hello!" she said.
.;:Mrs, Weiss," a man's voice said,
~es.;~~' she said. "This is Mrs. Weiss. Is it about Scotty?" she
@gf:;
"!rJi~::todo with Scotty, yes."
'I ~

family in there, all sitting in wicker chairs, a man in a 'kh~

shirt, a baseball cap pushed back on his head, a large wo~an
wearing a housedress, slippers, a girl in jeans, hair in dozen~Qf
kinky braids, the table littered with flimsy wrappers and styt:ae
foam and coffee sticks and packets of salt and pepper. .
"Nelson," the woman said. "Is it about Nelson?"
The woman's eyes widened.
"Tell me now, lady," the woman said. "Is it about Nelsop'?"